WASHINGTON -- Well-coifed and dressed in suit and tie, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is a long way from the long-haired kid in 1970 who shouted to his fellow college students: "Power to the people!"

But Coleman, 54, may have found an outlet for his old counterculture side: investigating the music recording industry.

Coleman, a freshman from Minnesota, will hold hearings on the Recording Industry Association of America's anti-piracy crackdown, starting on Sept. 30. He said he's worried the RIAA campaign is heavy-handed and could ensnare "the little guy."

That thinking is what prompted Coleman, as an undergraduate, to lead anti-war rallies and serve as Student Senate president. He was suspended for leading a sit-in at a faculty restaurant, and helped to organize a short student strike in 1970 after four anti-war demonstrators were killed at Kent State University in Ohio.

John Moreno, a college friend of Coleman at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y., wonders if the young college protester is peeking through the middle-aged senator.

At least there is a voice of reason on this issue. Most politicians are firmly in the pockets of RIAA -- which does not represent the recording industry of the US or world. Note an article in today's NYT: Upstart Labels See File Sharing as Ally, not Foe.

Even as the major labels of the music industry pursue file traders for copyright infringement through lawsuits and the court of public opinion, Vagrant and many other independent label owners cheer them on. File sharing, these owners say, helps their small companies compete against conglomerates with deeper pockets for advertising and greater access to radio programmers.

"Our music, by and large, when kids listen to it, they share it with their friends," Mr. Egan said. "Then they go buy the record; they take ownership of it."

As the music industry suffers through its third consecutive year of falling sales, a decline the major labels say is primarily a result of file sharing, Vagrant is one of many independent labels having some success.

Peer-to-peer (p2p) sharing is a cultural phenomena, a way of spreading music and information. As the media is also generally controlled by a few conglomerates, it is a way to spread information, whether of new music or something other.

Note, I share some music and information. My teenage daughter introduced me. Most of the downloads from my site are articles by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn,etc., and alternative viewpoints about 9/11 and the iraqi invasion/occupation.

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